Actions And Responses
Victoria, British Columbia had the largest Chinese Canadian community in 1884. There was unrest and many who were suffering from illness. The Chinese needed am organization, a governing body of Chinese to help them find jobs and organize community events. One of the biggest reasons was to unite the Chinese in their protest against discriminatory laws, and later, the head tax. They needed an association to protect them from the discrimination from the white community, and to maintain law and order.
The Chinese community in Victoria wrote a letter to the Chinese Consul in San Francisco, who sent Huang Xiquan to help the community set up their own organization. He was the one who wrote the laws and regulations of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which was what this association in Victoria was called. A $2 fee was paid from each Chinese Canadian in Victoria, who thought it was a good thing. Eventually, $30,000 was raised, and they started building the headquarters of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), on 558 Fisgard Street, which is the building to the right. |
The government thought that there was too many Chinese in the country, so they removed the head tax, but installed a more darker legislation in place: the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, or, better known as the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act was a total prohibition on Chinese immigration. It came into effect July 1, 1923, or Canada Day, which many Chinese Canadians mark as 'Humiliation Day'. This prohibition on immigration meant that families separated overseas could not come to Canada. This act was repealed in 1947, after 24 years.
Another of the government's responses was to raise the head tax. They raised it first in 1900, to a hundred dollars, which was then quintupled to five hundred dollars in 1903. In those days, five hundred dollars was equivalent to two years worth of labour, or the price of a house. The government earned approximately 23 million dollars from 81,000 Chinese immigrants. That was enough to pay for the Canadian Pacific Railway.
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